The event took place at Madinat Jumeira in Dubai, a beautiful resort styled after traditional Middle Eastern architecture, and comprising boutique hotels.
2What a wonderful location.
3I sped through the show halls once, and returned a second time to gather details, while my companions methodically moved booth by booth.
Space
4By the entrance was the first showroom in which was displayed some of the Royal collection, a refreshingly modern, modest, tasteful and varied selection of the personal art collection of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, reflecting the pleasures found in art by an open minded and respectful patron and collector.
5Apart from the Royal collection, there were 3 large halls with different atmospheres:
- The Dubai collection space, featuring works connected to Dubai, was the most friendly and comfortable, with a high ceiling,
- the Dubai Modern, a more factory like larger space and an even higher ceiling,
- the Digital hall, in a separate building which was much smaller (perhaps too small comparing to the previous halls), and overcrowded with visitors pointing their phones at flashing objects. This hall had somehow a funny edge: I felt something like being in a Hamleys, although the concepts behind the object presentations seemed to target adults, I cannot say that kids do not think up these things.
6One of my first instincts, while speeding through the large halls for the first time to get an overall feel for the show, and to see which works resembled mine. I am neither happy not unhappy to say that I did not find any.
7After that tranquillising realisation I went through a second time therein discovering the works of figures like Hassan Sharif and Bahman Mohasses.
8I learned that Hassan Sharif (1951-2016), shown by Galleria Franco Noero was an Emirati artist and writer, who lived and worked in Dubai.Widely considered as the grandfather of conceptual art in the Gulf, he studied at Byam Shaw (which was later absorbed by Central St Martins. Byam Shaw’s Alumni include Maria Björnson (theatre designer), Clive Barker (author), James Dyson (scientist/designer) and artists Lucian Freud, and Yinka Shonibare (by whose curatorial acumen my work was shown at the RA summer show in 2021).
9Bahman Mohasses on the other hand (1931-2010) born in Iran, shown by Leila Heller gallery, was known as an ‘irreverent artist’, he worked as a painter, sculptor, and theatre director. He destroyed many of his own works after censorship by the new government in post revolution Iran, but his work is slowly reappearing in galleries in Iran almost 50 years later.
10I would never have known about those two artists had I not visited Art Dubai. It told me something about the deep cultural history of a region which in some parts of the world is still largely unrepresented.
11I otherwise noticed work by artists whose work I already knew including Maggi Hambling (at Thomas Brambilla), Matthew Krishanu (at Jhaveri contemporary), Takashi Murakami (at Perrotin), Ian Davenport (at Waddington Custot), and Kenny Scharf (at Almine Rech), Michelangelo Pistolleto (at Galleria Continua) and an uncatalogged work by Frank Stella which I don’t remember the location of.
12In the digital section the work of the NY studio Breakfast stood out.
Сuration
13Although I would have liked to have noticed a common intellectual theme or connection between the booths other than the explicit gallery commercial theme or the walkway, unfortunately, I was unable to find one, yet still it was relieving to see a representation of galleries from across the globe with a strong focus on modern regional art.
14In respect to the digital hall and online catalog it might be useful to look at the work of researchers in the field of digital art curation about how digital curation systems contextualise artworks by addressing the meaning making process, not just in displaying objects.
Overall impression
15Art Dubai 2025 is now a significant platform for regional art and has become a permanent fixture on the global art calendar. The show is no different in that respect to Frieze London or New York, Seoul, Pulse Miami, TEFAF, Shanghai Contemporary or Art Basel in showcasing blue chip galleries and ‘experimental’ art.
Overall, my experience was positive and I would happily return, and while corporate sponsorships were prominent, the Art Dubai 2025 show was also a refreshing reminder that artwork aesthetic is crucial and that not all artworks need to be loaded with a deep philosophical meaning.
2These are photos of a handful from my selection of the most eye-catching pieces.
3Joana Vasconcelos, small colourful wall hung example of trademark blend of domestic and monumental.
4Diana al Hadid, fabric like appearance of intricate polymerstructure.
5Nabil Anani, integration of indigenous materials into figuration
6Kosai Hori intricate layering of densely packed work
7Ibrahim Dessouki, layered construction similar to weaving.
8Farah Atassi, weaving together cubism, modern abstraction, in tapestry effect.
9Hassan Sharif, use of cardboard with binding showing a theme of labour.
10Yunus Emre Erdogan , part of the automatic abstract series. dichotomies as repetitive motions
11Bahman Mohasses. Surreal focus on the human condition. Some of his works were hidden in a closet.
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